Ear-drum.



No. 831,125. PATENTED SEPT. 18. 1906. G. P. WAY.

EAR DRUM.

APPLIUATION FILED MAR. 27, 1905.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.-

GEORGE I. WAY, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO WAY EAR DRUM- COMPANY, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION OF MICHIGAN.

EAR-DRUM.

Specification of Letters Patent,

Patented Sept. 18,1906.

Applicati fil d March 27, 1905- Serlal No. 252,433.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE P. WAY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Detroit, county of Wayne, State of Michigan, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Ear-Drums; and I declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in invisible ear-drums, shown in the accompanying drawings and described in the following specification and claim.

Figure 1 is an enlarged view of my invention in side elevation. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the same. Fig. 3 shows the drum in position in the ear.

This invention is more particularly an improvement on my invention covered by United States Patent No. 628,051, dated July 4, 1899.

I have found in practice that by modifying the general contour of the walls forming the drum it is better adapted to the necessities of certain patients than my original invention.

The object of this invention is to modify its original construction so as to overcome objections raised to the old form.

As stated in my previous application, cases of defective hearing are largely due to a ruptured tympanum. This membrane when perfect assists in supporting the ossicles or small bones of the ear, which are apt to sag when the support afiorded by this membrane is withdrawn, thereby greatly impairing the hearing. If the perforation of the membrane is of considerable size, it allows free access to dust, cold, moisture, or other irritants into the tympanic cavity, and in many cases involving a ruptured tympanum it is a common practice to insert absorbent cotton to guard against the entrance of foreign matter and to prevent the too rapid evaporation of moisture from the surface of the tympanic membrane. When the rupture is of such a character as to have removed the support afforded the ossicles and this chain of small bones sags downward, disks of paper, linen, silk, &c., are sometimes inserted to provide the support required, but these devices tend to plug up the ear, and thus impair the hearing.

By the use of my invention the opening caused by the rupture of the tympanum is closed by inserting the projecting end of the drum through the opening, which thereby keeps out all foreign matter and serves to support the ossicles and bearing against the stapes conveys sound to the auditory nerve.

My former patent shows a construction in which there is a flat annular wall connecting the enlarged portion of the drum with the projecting contracted portion, of which the contracted portion only projects through the tympanum and bears against the stapes. I also show in this old construction the projecting portion with a rounded end, thus having only one point of contact. I have found in practice that in many cases the annular wall does not fit the ruptured tympanum perfectly and that the acute angle given the annular wall is frequently the cause of more or less irritation. So, also, the rounded end does not afford a suflicient contacting surface with the stapes.

In the present application I have changed the contour of the annular wall which joins the enlarged portion to the contracted projecting end shown in the original patent by substituting an ogee curve. This portion is designed to engage the wall of the tymp'anum, while the flattened end of the projecting contracted portion gives a more extended contacting surface with the stapes, thereby increasing the efliciency of the device.

Referring to the letters of reference shown on the drawings, A is the auditory canal.

B is the tympanic membrane.

C represents the ossicles of the tympanum.

D indicates the drum, preferabl made of rubber, consisting in an enlarge tapering portion D, at one end of which is an annular ogee or stepped wall cl, projecting from which is a closed hollow stem D of much smaller diameter than the portion D, the closed end of which is flattened, as shown at d, to afford a better bearing-surface when brought into contact with the stapes E. By tapering the portion D from the ogee wall to its open end (Z it is not apt to cling to the walls of the auditory canal, and upon insert ing a suitable instrument into its open end affords a ready means for its removal from the ear.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is A hollow cylindrical stem having parallel side walls, one of its ends closed and flattened 5 to adapt it to bear a ainst stapes of the ear, an annular ogee wall extendlng outwardly from the cylindrical portion, and an open end truncated cone-shaped portion, projecting'rearwardly from the ogee wall, substantially as described. 7 10 In testimony whereof I sign-this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE P. WAY.

. Witnesses: I

S. E. THOMAS, ALLAN MCLINN. 

